Vucetich was first to catch criminals using fingerprints

4:25 AM,
Jul. 20, 2013

Written by

In our modern world, we are photographed, numbered, monitored and identified in myriad ways each day - all in the pursuit of a safer, more secure world, we are told.

The idea of fingerprints somehow seems quaint.

In 1823, a Czech professor of anatomy, Jan Evangelista Purkinje, described his observations of the distinct patterns of people's fingerprints. He identified nine patterns, but he did not reach the conclusion that these patterns could be used to identify people. ...